Mike_Philippens
Certifiable User
Hi there! I just joined the BMW MOA and thought it would be nice to introduce myself properly to my 'new friends'.
I'm Mike, and I live in a galaxy far, far away: The Netherlands (that's Europe). Not in Amsterdam, but more near Rotterdam, in a very old town called Gorinchem. It's not big, but old and strategically important, hence the city walls and we used to have canons placed on them.
I own a BMW R850RT, which is my second Beemer. I used to have a K1100RS, which was my first BMW and second motorcycle. The first was a Yamaha Diversion 600 (Seca II in the US). All are great bikes. My current bike was a police bike, and they took very good care of it. It has +/- 160.000km on the clock and it doesn't rattle and hardly uses any oil. I just have to give her a spoonfull in between oil changes.
I did some traveling on this RT, most notabilly a trip to Morocco and back, which was a 7800km round trip. We did some mild offroad/allroad excursions. Morocco does have some good tarmac roads (but not great) and we chose some backroads intentionally to have a little adventure. The RT took it brilliantly, thanks to the HyperPro shocks and of course a good pilot
For 2012 I have a new adventure on the planning board: I want to ship my bike over to the US and go on a road trip for 3 months or so. That's the main reason to join the BMW MOA: make new friends an hopefully get some good info on routes to take, what to see and what not. I have a very crude route, and I really don't want to plan it too precise. That's the reason I go for 3 months: I can take it easy and don't have to be there and there at a given time. Obviously I need some goals and a rough plan. I really like the backroads and scenic routes. If time is of an essence, I can cut time by using an interstate for a day to make some headway, but I like to take it easy.
Ok, I'll open a topic for my trip some time to see if my new friends can help me find my way through the US. I've been to the US twice: once on a trip from Chicago to New Orleans (did 3 days on a Harley on the R66...yeah!tourists!) and 2 years ago a week in NY. Now I need more...
Maybe nice to include a pic of my bike:
_MG_0686.jpg by Ivo van Willigen, on Flickr
I'm standing because I just went over the finishline of the Alpe D'Huez in the French Alps. I was a volunteer to accompany people on a charity run on that mountain...on a pushbike (or is it a scooter?) That mountain is even a challenge on a RT!
The bike was white (duh! police colour) and I painted the cases myself (hence the difference in shade) and then put on the zebra stripe-stickers.
I'm Mike, and I live in a galaxy far, far away: The Netherlands (that's Europe). Not in Amsterdam, but more near Rotterdam, in a very old town called Gorinchem. It's not big, but old and strategically important, hence the city walls and we used to have canons placed on them.
I own a BMW R850RT, which is my second Beemer. I used to have a K1100RS, which was my first BMW and second motorcycle. The first was a Yamaha Diversion 600 (Seca II in the US). All are great bikes. My current bike was a police bike, and they took very good care of it. It has +/- 160.000km on the clock and it doesn't rattle and hardly uses any oil. I just have to give her a spoonfull in between oil changes.
I did some traveling on this RT, most notabilly a trip to Morocco and back, which was a 7800km round trip. We did some mild offroad/allroad excursions. Morocco does have some good tarmac roads (but not great) and we chose some backroads intentionally to have a little adventure. The RT took it brilliantly, thanks to the HyperPro shocks and of course a good pilot
For 2012 I have a new adventure on the planning board: I want to ship my bike over to the US and go on a road trip for 3 months or so. That's the main reason to join the BMW MOA: make new friends an hopefully get some good info on routes to take, what to see and what not. I have a very crude route, and I really don't want to plan it too precise. That's the reason I go for 3 months: I can take it easy and don't have to be there and there at a given time. Obviously I need some goals and a rough plan. I really like the backroads and scenic routes. If time is of an essence, I can cut time by using an interstate for a day to make some headway, but I like to take it easy.
Ok, I'll open a topic for my trip some time to see if my new friends can help me find my way through the US. I've been to the US twice: once on a trip from Chicago to New Orleans (did 3 days on a Harley on the R66...yeah!tourists!) and 2 years ago a week in NY. Now I need more...
Maybe nice to include a pic of my bike:
_MG_0686.jpg by Ivo van Willigen, on Flickr
I'm standing because I just went over the finishline of the Alpe D'Huez in the French Alps. I was a volunteer to accompany people on a charity run on that mountain...on a pushbike (or is it a scooter?) That mountain is even a challenge on a RT!
The bike was white (duh! police colour) and I painted the cases myself (hence the difference in shade) and then put on the zebra stripe-stickers.
Last edited: